How late can I board on 1/29, if ship departs 1/30?

[0106]

We will be boarding the Oosterdam in Buenos Aires on 1/29.  The ship doesn’t depart until 6pm on 1/30.  
 

How late can we check in on 1/29? Thinking of an all day tour that departs early on the 29 and we would not arrive at the ship until evening.

[Big Dawg CC]

You should check directly with HAL.  In February 2023, we had to get special approval to disembark in Buenos Aries prior to 6 am as there are no custom agents on duty during certain hours at the Buenos Aries port.  Special arrangements were made to make sure that a customs agent would meet us at the designated area.  A person was actually on call that morning as a large group with Travel with Alan was disembarking around 3 am.  If not for them leaving before us that morning, I'm not sure how it would have all played out. 

[CruiserBruce]

You won't absolutely need to board on the 29th. You need to board an hour prior to scheduled sailing.

[SUESEABE]

Looks like your cruise is January 29, 2024 through–February 20, 2024.

You will be assigned a boarding time for January 29th. Basically it comes down to the check-in schedule that the ship will provide in your documents. Even though the ship is sitting in port, they will still only have a certain check-in window on the first day. 

[kazu]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

You won't absolutely need to board on the 29th. You need to board an hour prior to scheduled sailing.

 

I agree with Bruce.  

 

We had an overnight in Venice and some roll call members did not board until very late.  Of course, they had to do a special muster drill but with the new procedure, that is no big deal.

You can definitely board that evening if the ship doesn’t leave until the next day IME.

[kazu]

1 hour ago, Big Dawg CC said:

You should check directly with HAL.  In February 2023, we had to get special approval to disembark in Buenos Aries prior to 6 am as there are no custom agents on duty during certain hours at the Buenos Aries port.  Special arrangements were made to make sure that a customs agent would meet us at the designated area.  A person was actually on call that morning as a large group with Travel with Alan was disembarking around 3 am.  If not for them leaving before us that morning, I'm not sure how it would have all played out. 

 

You are correct on disembarking but…..The OP is not disembarking - they are boarding - that’s whole different kettle of fish.

[Haljo1935]

We did something similar out of Quebec - embark was one day w/an overnight then departure the next day. We wanted to check in on day 2 and skip spending the night at port. We reached out to HAL and were sent an approval to board late. Our itinerary was updated to reflect the cruise start date of the 2nd day, so I'm assuming we lost 1 day toward Mariner status and days sailed.

It isn't an issue, but if you don't make them aware ahead of time, you risk being considered a No Show.

As each port is different & subject to local regulations the process might vary a bit.

[0106]

I appreciate your replies.  The tour leaves early morning of the 29th and is scheduled to return at 6pm. I want to board the ship the evening of the 29th.  I just sent an email to my PCC, (she’s one of the good ones with 15 years with the company). Specifically, what department of HAL do you suggest I contact?

[Big Dawg CC]

14 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

You are correct on disembarking but…..The OP is not disembarking - they are boarding - that’s whole different kettle of fish.

Yeah, I understand that.  But my understanding is that you also have to go through customs at embarkation.  We did in Santiago.

[kazu]

14 minutes ago, Big Dawg CC said:

Yeah, I understand that.  But my understanding is that you also have to go through customs at embarkation.  We did in Santiago.

 

As long as customs is open IF that is the case, the OP will not have a problem.  We arrived late when we did South America and from the exact same port.  It was a non issue.  I believe we arrive around 4-5 PM.  Pablo Neruda’s homes were awaiting us 😉 

I never thought to call or ask - the OP can certainly check but it’s never been an issue IME.  
 

[Big Dawg CC]

We would not have typically thought to ask either, but I wanted to make sure that I would have no issue disembarking the ship at any time in order to catch our very early flight to Iguazu Falls.  So, before I booked our flights, I reached out to my PCC who, after running it up the flag pole, informed me that I could disembark at any time as the ship was staying over night. 

 

It was therefore to our surprise that our disembarkation letter for Buenos Aires stated that we would not be able to disembark between certain hours without prior authorization.  In order to safely catch our flight, we really needed to leave during the "restricted" period.  As noted above, it all worked out because a customs agent needed to be on site early to accommodate the Travel by Alan group.  So, all I am saying is that if customs is needed to embark, OP may not be able to embark at ANY time, but only when a customs agent is on site. 

 

Since we were originally misinformed by HAL about our ability to disembark at any time, OP should make sure to ask HAL about any customs or other closure periods at the port that could prevent them from checking in at any time.

[CruiserBruce]

10 hours ago, Big Dawg CC said:

Yeah, I understand that.  But my understanding is that you also have to go through customs at embarkation.  We did in Santiago.

Not Customs...you won't be doing Customs in this case. You do Immigration. 

[TiogaCruiser]

One other thing about BsAs port- it’s a commercial / container port and huge. Both times I have been there we had to take the shuttle from the pax terminal to the ship. So the shuttle also needs to be running.

[Essiesmom]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

Not Customs...you won't be doing Customs in this case. You do Immigration. 

They would be going through immigration at the airport, or previously at the port if they arrived on another ship.  EM

[Roz]

@0106, I have personal experience with boarding the Oosterdam late in Buenos Aires earlier this year.  It took me 3 days to get from Tennessee to Argentina.  When I realized in Houston that I wasn't going to make it by all aboard on the first day,  I contacted my TA.  She in turn contacted the department at HAL that tracks delayed passengers, and gave them my revised flights and itinerary.  

 

I finally arrived at the cruise terminal, hot, tired, sweaty, and stinky.  I was subjected to the same rigorous entry process that I had just gone through at the airport.  I was scanned, x-rayed, photographed, and fingerprinted.  DO NOT assume that all of this will be up and running if you arrive late and haven't made arrangements ahead of time. 

[Haljo1935]

I believe we avoided some of those issues when we did this at a different port (per my previous post) by contacting HAL ahead of time and getting the required approvals. If none are needed, great, but being a long distance from home at a foreign port is not, IMHO, the place to figure it out. It took no time for us to submit the request to HAL and receive the approval.